Governor for steam turbines



. May 29,1923.

' 1,457,212 c. w. .DAKE

GOVERNOR FOR STEAM TURBINBS 7 Filed Aug. 9, 1920 2 Sheets-sheaf l Fig.1.

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C. W. DAKE I GOVERNOR FOR STEAM TURBINES Filed Aug. 9,-1920 2Sheets-Sheet 2 v fnve nt ar C karze Z0 .Dakc

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CHARLES W. DAKE, or CHICAGO. ILLINOIS, Asslcnoa ro'rnn PYLE-NA'IoNALcoM- ranv, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A oon-roaA'rIon or JERSEY.

GOVERNOR son s'rnan Terminus.

Application filed August 9, 1920. Serial No. 402,251. 7

10 steam turbines, and has for its object amongst other things, toreduce the windage of the rotating governor parts to reduce the diameterof the rotating parts, to remove the governor weights from the steamchamber and thoroughly oil them, to bring the point where the governorweights can communicate motion to the valve controlling elements as nearas possible to the axis of the shaft so as to reduce the centrifugalforce exercised by the rotation of these parts to a minimum, thusdiminishing the unsatisfactory effect of irregularities or imperfectionsin the bearings and giving the greatest possible freedom of motion tothelongitudinally moving rod; to reduce the friction on the rod to aminimum, to provide effective lubricating means for the several parts,to keep the oil from the steam chamber, and to bring about various otheradvantageous results hereinafter set forth.

The invention is illustrated in my particular form as applied to agovernor for a steam turbine of relatively small dimensions, though ofcourse, it will be understood that the several parts can be greatlyaltered without departing from the spirit of my invention. I am notshowing in detail or describing the valve and the connections from thegovernor parts to the valve as they form no part of the presentinvention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing whereinFig. 1is a longitudinal section;

Figure 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2 of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a detail of the means for communicating motion from thegovernor to the valve, with one lever arm shown in exaggerated length.

throughoutthe figures. V

A is a casing containing an oiling cham- Like parts are illustrated bylikeletters her A an airy chamber A and a rotor-chamber A B is a valveand its parts. B is an oil distributor. As these several parts form nopart ofthe present invention they will not be further described, and anyconvenient device of the kind in question could be substituted foreither of them. the body of the shaft whichhas a hollow portion Cextending through the chambers A and A and'in to. the chamber A hollowportion of the shaft is slotted at D, D, with two long narrow slotsthrough which slots extend thethin arms D D" of the governor weights,the outer arms of which D D are thick and heavy. Each Cis.

This

governor weight has a wide projecting fulcrum portion D resting on aledge in a ring E which 'is mounted on and rotates with the shaft. Thesegovernor weights so 'constituted have outer heavywveighted portions andinner relatively light parts to engage the governor rod. The governorrod F is mounted within the hollow shaft and in cross section is muchsmaller than the diameter of said hollow portion. The rod carries at oneend a relatively short and enlarged portion F which engagesv and'slidesalong the inner walls of the hollow portion and furnishes a bearingfor'the inner ends of the governor weights which thus engage the rodvery close to its axis. At the other end. of

the rod and surrounding it and within the hollow ofthe shaft are twothreaded parts.

The outer part G is locked against longitudinal motion within the shaftby the pins G G and the inner portion G is locked against rotary motionwithin the shaft by the key G The two are threaded together at G*. Thepart G carries the outer squared end G whereby the part Gr may berotated in either direction so as to cause the part G to travellongitudinally and thus vary the length of the chamber J within thehollow shaft, and. thus vary the tension of the spring J which lieswithin such chamber. On the outer end of the rod is the enlarged end Kattached thereto in any desired manner. j

The rotor L is made inany desired way and is preferably mounted on thering or hub'L which is keyed at L to the hollow portion of the shaft andis held in longitudinal position by the engagement of the end of theinner apertured portion L of the hub, with a shoulder or ring L on theshaft by engagement with the other side of the hub and the screwthreaded ring L on the outer end of the hollow portion of the shaft. Thechamber portion of the hub is in opposition to but not in engagementwith the chamber ring L secured to the side of the steam or rotorchamber. Since this hub portion is tapered and has a diameter increasingtoward the rotor chamber, and since it is not in contact with, though itshould be close to the inner surface of the ring L its rotation tends tocause the moisture to move toward instead of away from the steamchamber.

D D are pins which pass through suitable openings in the ring E and arelet into notches D in the enlarged portion of the governor weight so asto keep the governor weight from displacement on the ring E.

The means for communicating motion from the governor to the valve stemmay be briefly referred to as follows: The valve has a stem N whichprojecting into the path engages the end N of the arm N which is pivotedat end 3 and there attached to the arm N which is provided with a plateN which engages the enlargement K on the governor rod. The motion ofthis latter rod rocks the two part lever and causes the valve stem to bemoved. Within the end N of the arm N is a hard ened steel plug N againstwhich the end of the rod N bears.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows:

Assuming the parts to have been made and assembled substantially asshown in Fig. 1 when the shaft is in rotation the governor weights willrock on their fulcrums D" D and bear against the central portion of therod end F and thus tend to move the rod toward the left in opposition tothe spring J and thus tend to move the device which in turn communicatesmotion to the valve stem. The governor weights are in a chamber entirelyapart from the steam chamber in which the turbine rotor moves. They arein an oiling chamber and might indeed be in an oil bath. They aremounted in a ringlike portion which surrounds and is associated with theshaft and lies in the aperture in the side of the casing so that withthe shaft such ring and the governor weights can be moved longitudinallythrough such aperture out of and away from the oil chamber. Mounted inthis manner the windage of the governor parts is reduced to a minimum.By making the inner arms of the governor weights thin and wide all thestrength necessary can be gotten without making a dangerously wide slotin the rotary part of the shaft andby having the outer portion of thegovernor weight relatively thick and heavy a long bearing can beobtained at the fulcrum point. By thus projecting the inner ends of theweights through slots in the rotary part of the shaft their hearing endscan be brought to engage the enlargement on r the governor rod veryclose to its axis of rotation.

By placing the governor rod within the hollow portion of the shaft andtherefore on the axis of the shaft, its several parts are brought asnearly as possible to the center or a:;is of the shaft. Its two enlargedends do extend somewhat away from the axis but the body of the rod maybe relatively small. The spring chamber, and therefore the tenon of thering is easily adjusted in the ructure shown by rotating one portion ofl interthreaded parts causing the other to travel longitiu'lin ly ineither direction.

There is a con.:,.derable distance between the oil chamber and the steamchamber and the tendency of the oil to pass from one ch: .Xl'. to theother is reduced to a minimum. There will be oil enough between therotating); and moving parts to reduce friction to a in i in actualpractice no oil escapes into the steam chamber.

1 have spoken of the governor weights as being mounted in the oilchamber, and by this 7 wish it understood that l meanv to r to suchaction between the governor hts and the oil chamber as that the formerwill be oiled from the latter, and not necessarily to mean that theweights are actually mounted in the oil chamber. Some of the objects andpurposes of my invention can be accomplished by structures widelydifferent from what is here shown and by dispensing with variousfeatures here illus trated.

Generally speaking I have here exhibited means whereby the governorweights will be mounted in a separate governor chamber, and the steamturbine in a separate steam chamber, the two chambers not beingconnected, so as to permit oil or steam to pass from one to the other.Another general idea which I have attempted to express is that all ofthe rotating parts of the governor are assembled as closely as possibleabout the axis of rotation for a. variety of reasons hereinbefore sugr"ted and others which will occur to any stalled mechanic. I have spokenof a single weight and illustrated two, but of course there may be anynumber of weights.

I claim 1. In a governor for a steam turbine comprising in part valveand a valve stem, the combination of hollow shaft portion with agovernor rod centrally mounted and movable therein. a governor weight atone end of the rod, means for connecting the valve stem with the rod atthe other end of the rod, an oil chamber to which the governor weight 1sexposed, a steam chamber in which the said valve connections arelocated,

' and an air chamber disposed between the lit said steam chamber and theoil'chamber.

2. In a governor fora steam turbine comprising in part a valve and avalvestem, the combination of a hollow shaft portion with a governor rodcentrally mounted and movable therein, a governor weight at one end ofthe rod, and means for connecting the valve stem with the rod at theother end of the rod. and an oil chamber to which the governor weight isexposed, and a separate steam chamber in which said connections aredisposed. I

3. A steam turbine device comprising an oil chamber, and a steam chamberseparated from each other, a steam rotor mounted in the steam chamber, agovernor weight mounted in the oil chamber and a rod concentric with therotor extending from one chamber to the other, said governor weightadapted to act on one end of the rod and the other end of the rodadapted to control the supply of steam to the rotor.

4. A steam turbine device comprising an oil chamber, and a steam chamberseparated from-each other, a steam rotor mounted in the steam chamber, agovernor weight mounted in the oil chamber and a rod concentric with therotor extending from one chamber to the other, said governor weightadapted to act on one end of the rod and the other end of the rodadapted to control the supply of steam to the rotor, and a hollow shaftportion which surrounds the rod. 1

5. A steam turbine device comprising an oil chamber, and a steam chamberseparated from each other, a steam rotor mounted in the steam chamber, agovernor" weight mounted in the oil chamber and a rod concentric withthe rotor extending from one chamber to the other said governor weightadapted to act on one end of the rod and the other end of the rodadapted to control the supply of steam to the rotor and a tension springabout the rod.

6. A steam turbine device comprising an oil chamber, and a steam chamberseparated from each other, a steam rotor mounted in the steam chamber. agovernor weight mounted in the oil chamber and a rod concentric with therotor extending from one chamber to the other, said governor weightadapted to act on one end of the rod and the other end of the. rodadapted to control the supply of steam to the rotor, and a hollow shaftportion which surrounds the rod, and a tension spring about the rod.

7. A steam turbine device comprising an oil chamber, and a steam chamberseparated from each other, a steam rotor mounted in the steam chamber, agovernor weight mounted in the oil chamber and a rod concentric with therotor extending from one chamber to the other, said governor weightadapted to act on one end of the rod and chamber to the other, saidgovernor weight adapted to act on one end of the rod ,and the other endof the rod adapted to control the supply of steam to the rotor, a hollowshaft portion which surrounds the rod, at tensionspring about the rod,and means for varying the tension of the spring. I i I 9. In a governorfor fluid turbines, a turv biue shaft having a solid portion and ahollowportion, slots said hollow portion, a collar mounted on the shaftadjacent the slots, a governor plunger slidably mounted in the hollowportion, governor weights mounted on said collar, the ends thereof beingadapted to penetrate the slots and to contact the end of the plunger,the end of the plunger being adapted to project; beyond the end of theshaft, a valve. operating mecha nism and a connection between thev outerprojecting end of the plunger and said mechanism.

10. In a governor for fluid turbines, a turbine shaft having a solidportion and a hollow portion,slots in said hollow portion, a collarmounted on the shaft adjacent the slots, a governor plunger slidablymounted in. the hollow portion, governor weights mounted on said collar,the ends thereof being adapted to penetrate the slots and to contacttheend of the plunger, the end of the: plunger being adapted to projectbeyond the end of the shaft, a valve operating mechaprojecting end ofthe plunger and said mech- 11. In a governor for fluid turbines, a

.nism and'a'connection between the outer anism, comprising a bell leverpivoted adturbine shaft having a solid Portion and a hollow portion,slots in said hollow'portion.

a collar mounted on the shaft adjacent the slots. a governor plungerslidably mounted in the hollow portion, governor weights mounted on saidcollar, the ends thereof being adapted to penetrate the slots and tocontact the end of the plunger, the end of the plunger being adapted toproject beyond the end of the shaft, a valve operating mech anism and aconnection between the outer projecting end of the plunger and saidmechanism, and yielding means adapted normally to hold the plunger inwithdrawn position within the shaft and against the ends of the governorweights.

12. In a governor for fluid turbines, a turbine shaft having a solidportion and a hollow portion, slots in said hollow portion, a collarmounted on the shaft adjacent the slots, a governor plunger slidablymountted in the hollow portion, governor weights mounted on said collar,the ends thereoi be ing adapted to penetrate the slots and to contactthe end of the plunger, the end of the plunger being adapted toprojectbeyond the end of the shaft, a valve operating mechanism and aconnection between the outer projecting end of the plunger and saidmechanism. and yielding means adapted normally to hold the plunger inwithdrawn posi tion within the shaft and again-st the ends of thegovernor weights, and means for adjusting the tension of said yieldingmeans' 13. In a governor for fluid turbines, a turbine shaft having asolid portion and a hollow portion, slots in the hollow portion, acollar mounted on the shaft adjacent the slots. a governor plungerslidably mounted in the hollow portion, governor weights mounted on saidcollar the ends thereof be ingadapted to penetrate the slots and contactthe end of the plunger, said plunger being provided with enlarged ends,one on the outside and the other on the inside of the hollow shaftportion, a valve operating mechanism, the enlarged end inside the hollowshaft portion adapted to contact the ends of the governor weights andthe enlarged end outside the hollow portion being adapted to engage thevalve operating mechanism.

14-. In a governor for fluid turbines, a turbine shaft having a solidportion and a hollow portion slots in said hollow portion, a collarmounted on the shaft adjacent the slots, a governor plunger slidablymounted in the hollow portion, governor weights mounted on said collar,the ends thereof being adapted to penetrate the slots and to contact theend of the plunger, the end of the plunger being adapted to projectbeyond the end of the shaft, a valve operating mechanism and aconnection between the outer projecting end of the plunger and saidmechanism, and yielding means adapted normally to hold the plunger inwithdrawn position within the shaft and against the ends of the governorweights, comprising an enlareed plunger head adjacent said governorweights and an abutment mounted within the hollow portion of the shafthe plunger bei slidable therethrough and a spiral spring adapted to becompressed between said abutment and said enlarged plunger head.

Signed at Chicago, county of Cook and Fitate of: Illinois, this 29th dayof July, 1920. I

CHARLES W. DAKE.

